


Farewell

by 1jet2unknown



Series: Alpha Prompts [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Confessions, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Derek Hale is a Failwolf, Fanart, Goodbyes, Inspired by Fanart, Love Confessions, M/M, Random & Short, Short One Shot, Stiles Stilisnki isn't much better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23874085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1jet2unknown/pseuds/1jet2unknown
Summary: Derek walked the rest of the way to his house in the woods. The run had felt good, even though it had done little to clear his head. His mind was still racing, stirring up doubt and regret.He should have told him. Told him long ago. Instead, he had slammed him into walls and steering wheels, growled at him and bit his tongue whenever he was to praise him and his qualities too much. He had been so occupied with his pride, his stupid idea of protecting the ones he loved by pushing them away... And now it was too late.Stiles was leaving tonight and probably never looked back.The pack is leaving for college and Derek tries to avoid having to say goodbye. But then he finds Stiles waiting for him in the woods...
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Alpha Prompts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1526072
Comments: 14
Kudos: 133





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This little scene came to me as I was drawing a Sterek-fanart yesterday and I decided to write it down. It's short and nothing much, but I hope you guys still enjoy it :)
> 
> You'll find the fanart posted in the second chapter.

Derek walked the rest of the way to his house in the woods. The run had felt good, even though it had done little to clear his head. His mind was still racing, stirring up doubt and regret. 

He should have told him. Told him long ago. Instead, he had slammed him into walls and steering wheels, growled at him and bit his tongue whenever he was to praise him and his qualities too much. He had been so occupied with his pride, his stupid idea of protecting the ones he loved by pushing them away... And now it was too late.

Stiles was leaving tonight and probably never looked back.

And maybe it was better that way. Stiles deserved to go to college and just live a normal life. The boy had gone through enough in the past few years, probably was scarred for life. Leaving this hell hole behind him - including Derek - was probably the best decision Stiles had made.

Derek sighed and wiped the sweat off his face.

The pack had thrown a big farewell party that afternoon, but he had decided not to go. They only had invited him out of courtesy, anyway. Scott had made it very clear over the years that Derek was not his choice of company, that he simply tolerated him out of necessity. And the others... well... there had been a reason they left his pack. 

He had stopped by Erica’s at noon, because despite everything that happened, she still felt like family to him. She had hugged him tight and pressed a wet, lipstick-smearing press on his cheek. When she had asked if he really didn’t want to stop by at their farewell party, even just for a little bit, he had shaken his head. 

Even without saying the real reason why he couldn’t bring himself to face the pack and say his goodbyes out loud, he thought she had understood. So she had just smiled, pulled him in for another hug and watched him as he drove away in his camaro.

The party probably had already ended, and he assumed most of the pack was on their respective ways towards their new homes.

He’d miss them. More than he’d ever acknowledge.

He stepped through the underwood and into the small clearing behind the rebuild Hale house and suddenly stilled. 

“Stiles...” he muttered, almost sure that what he saw was just his mind playing tricks on him. 

There, on a tree stump, sat Stiles, his face soft and warm as he looked straight at Derek. The light of the setting sun lit up his features, making him look almost mystical. 

“Hey, Derek...” Stiles greeted, his voice a warm rasp, and it made something in Derek’s chest overflow. He clenched his fists to hold himself back from just rushing forward and pulling the younger man into his arms. 

This. This was why he hadn’t gone to the farewell party.

Because looking at Stiles, at the boy that had driven him crazy for years and slowly but surely wiggled his way into Derek’s heart, and knowing that he had to let him leave... it broke his heart. And it made him want to hold on to him, keep him by his side, even if it would ruin him.

“Shouldn’t you be on your way to Irvine?” Derek asked, his voice coming out harsher than he had intended given the way Stiles flinched.

“This is my last stop, then I’ll be on my way...” Stiles said and Derek felt like punching himself watching Stiles avert his eyes, hurt flickering over his features as he pulled on a loose string on the bottom of his hoodie. 

This wasn’t the way Derek had wanted to say goodbye. This was not the expression he had wanted to see last on Stiles’ face.

Just as he was about to offer Stiles to come in for a drink, Stiles pushed himself off the tree stump and dusted down his pants. Derek felt his heart sink. That was it. 

Stiles would leave and while he surely would come back to visit his dad every now and then, he wouldn’t come to see Derek. And Derek wouldn’t go to see him. Couldn’t go.

Stiles moved to walk away, but to Derek’s surprise he suddenly stopped and turned around again. 

“Why weren’t you at the party earlier?” Stiles asked. His face was a mixture of anger and disappointment. Something Derek was all too familiar with seeing in people’s faces. 

When Derek didn’t reply, Stiles stomped up to him, hands reaching out as if to grab Derek by the collar, but stopping just a few inches away. Stiles let out a frustrated growl and threw his hands in the air.

“You drive me crazy, Derek, you know that?!” he shouted, staring up at the treetops above them. He huffed out a wet laugh and Derek froze when he noticed the tears in the younger one’s eyes. Before he could react though, Stiles shook his head and ran his hands through his hair.

“I know you’re not the most social guy, Derek, I do. But when your whole pack leaves for college...? I sure thought that would be enough for you to overcome your inner recluse and at least say your goodbyes....”

Derek wanted to tell him how he had wanted to go. How he wanted to do the right thing and send them off with some good advice and a smile, but that he simply couldn’t. Not when them leaving - _Stiles_ leaving - meant he lost everything that held him together.

But instead what came out of his mouth was “I think Scott made it pretty clear I’m not part of the pack.”

Stiles’ face lit up in anger as he rushed forward and shoved Derek hard enough to make him stumble back a step. 

“ _You asshole_!” Stiles hissed. “You gigantic dick!” Derek could pin the exact moment Stiles registered and regretted his choice of words before his face turned bright red. But the embarrassment didn’t make him lose his anger.

“You’re not part of the pack? Are you kidding me?! We’ve been fighting evil together for years, jointly clawed our way out of hell more than once...! I can’t even count the times we saved each other’s lives and you... you....” Stiles gasped, trying to fit his anger into words. But instead of spitting any additional insults at Derek, Stiles suddenly deflated.

“How can you think so little of our friendship? I mean... after all that.... I’m not even worth a goodbye?”

Stiles looked up at him, tears clinging to his long lashes catching the light of the setting sun, and the hurt reflected in his eyes was too much for Derek to bear. “You’re wrong, Stiles...” he muttered, clasping Stiles’ hands that rested defeatedly on his chest. “I didn’t not go because I don’t appreciated our friendship...”

“Then why?” Stiles pressed and Derek closed his eyes and sighed. “Because I couldn’t bear having to say goodbye,” he admitted. “In case you haven’t noticed: I’m not good at letting go... and I know it’s just college, but you... you guys leaving feels like-“ “Like losing us,” Stiles finished and Derek nodded.

He felt stupid and exposed, and normally he would just punch his way out of the situation. But the way Stiles looked at him, surprised and somewhat hopeful, drowned his urge of fight or flight. So he just nodded, thumb rubbing a small circle on Stiles’ wrist.

Stiles searched his face, a muscle ticking in his jaw as, Derek was sure, his mind ran a mile a minute with the information he read in his features.

After a few seconds of silence, Stiles seemed to have come to a conclusion, and he looked at Derek with determination in his eyes.

“You know why I came here?” he asked and Derek didn’t quite know what to say. “I couldn’t leave without having clarified something.” His fingers curled into the damp fabric of Derek’s tank top as if to prepare himself for what he was about to say next. 

“You’re grumpy and stubborn and you still think you have to shoulder all the bad of this world on your own. And despite all my efforts to change it, you still think claws, growls and threats are a suitable way of communication...” Derek wanted to interject, but Stiles just ranted on. 

“You drive me crazy with how many clothes you trash because of getting clawed, shot or other means of almost-killed and by the way: I’m still traumatized by the time you asked me to saw off your arm! You really should stop thinking mutilating yourself is a good way to go because there’s people out there that care about you, you know! _I_ care about you!”

“Stiles...” Derek tried, but Stiles cut him off with a sharp nod of his head. “I held you up for hours in a pool, Derek! I ran into buildings full of creatures and death just to make sure you get your sorry ass out of there alive! I faced a god damn grim reaper for you!” 

Stiles sucked in a breath and looked straight at Derek, chest heaving and cheeks flushed. “I love you, _dumb-ass_!”

The words hit Derek like a truck, leaving him breathless.

Stiles just watched him, eyes flickering over Derek’s face, noticing every little twitch and motion. “ _I love you, Derek_ ,” he repeated. “So the least you can do is say goodbye.”

Derek’s mind raced, tracing back to when they first had met in the woods. He remembered Stiles’ rabbit-fast heartbeat and his smell, a mixture of fear and excitement, strong in the wind. He remembered all the times Stiles had rushed through the door in the middle of a fight, jumping right in harm's way, facing off alpha’s, hunters and wendigos with him. All the time Stiles had been right there, right next to him, laughing, scolding, bleeding, no matter how often Derek had tried to push him away. 

Derek had never understood why. Why someone as bright and perfect as Stiles would stay around someone like him.

Life was never good to Derek. So Stiles liking him? Loving him? That couldn’t be true... stuff like that didn’t happen. Not for him.

But looking at Stiles, at his pleading eyes, Derek felt like he wanted to believe it. Wanted it to be true. More than anything. 

“I don’t want to say goodbye,” Derek admitted as he closed his eyes to keep his emotions at bay. “Not to you.”

Stiles chest rumbled in a small chuckle as he slightly leaned forward. “Then let’s not make this a farewell,” he offered, face now close enough that his nose touched Derek’s. “Let’s make it a beginning...”

And for once, Derek let go of all the insecurities and pain and did what he truly wanted: Slinging an arm around Stiles’ neck and pulling him in for a kiss that made both of them breathless.

.end.


	2. Chapter 2

  
  
Find this and other fanarts of mine on my instagram [@1jet2unknown](https://www.instagram.com/1jet2unknown/).


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